Loading...
Answers
MenuWhat could motivate a SaaS sales team to close more deals?
Answers
Assuming each sales person is carrying a $1,000,000 quota then that works out to 2084 new users per year.
That translates to an annual bonus of $125K USD on target earnings.
If you are looking to motivate more sales, then I would suggest a sliding bonus structure that increases as reps sell more. I would also include a mechanism to prevent sales reps from sandbagging (defering deals for higher bonus).
Assuming a monthly quota of 175 new users acquired per month.
Example:
175 or less new users per month = 30% of value of first five months value
If attained quota from previous month (over 175 new users):
0 to 175 new users earn bonus of 30% of value of first five months value
175 to 350 new users earn bonus of 45% of value of first five months value
350+ new users earn bonus of 60% of value of first five months value.
I would also not underestimate the competitiveness of sales people. Run sales contest for your reps, and give the top rep for the previous month perks for winning. It could be as simple as a prime parking spot, or gift certificate for dinner.
Have you considered a reseller/partner program/affiliate program? These programs are typically commission only and are very scalable as they do not require the same labor costs as a direct sales force.
I've had great success growing international partner programs & affiliate programs for various SaaS companies.
Cheers,
Mick Kitor
I'd personally give them a cut of the sales for the first 12 months.
I'd also look to gamify sales. There's a bunch of existing software out there like Bunchball, Hoopla, greatify, etc.
I'm happy to chat if you want to go deeper.
I think you're working on the wrong end of the problem.
If you hire well, your salespeople shouldn't have to be motivated externally.
The real issue is how are you generating qualified leads?
How qualified are your leads, really? Because "the close" is set up for success or failure long before the salesperson reaches that part of the process.
The single most effective tool I have ever used to some form of a contest. Whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly. It causes a drive within the staff no matter how small. Just make sure there is a decent incentive and also make sure to have a focus on "bragging rights." Even your quietest employee will be motivated and it is an excellent time for team building.
Related Questions
-
What would be a good answer for describing the size of your company to a potential prospect who might consider you too small to service their account?
What an awesome question! Businesses are running into this issue more frequently that ever, good news is, it can be done. Having worked on projects with oDesk, Fox Television and Wikipedia and having a very very small staff, it's certainly possible. Here's how I say it in our pitches to larger organizations: "Tractive West provides tailored video production services to organizations of all sizes. We have developed a distributed workflow using the latest digital tools. We leverage our small creative and management team with a world wide network of creative professionals, that means we can rapidly scale to meet the demands of any project while keeping our infrastructure and overhead lightweight and sustainable." Cheers and best of luck.Shawn MatthewsSM
-
How can a small offshore development company find companies/software sales people to sell their service in the US/UK?
My company does a lot of consulting with offshore firms who are looking for a way to generate new business, so I hear this question a lot. My first reaction is that you need to totally reverse your mindset when you talk about your own company. You mentioned that you have: a great software developers team, proven track record, passion, real value But, everyone says that. There a 10,000 companies that have those things, so a customer isn't going to notice it. You need to figure out what your company is best at (doesn't have to be technical) and present it as a solution to a specific problem that clients have. Maybe a speciality, or really good project management, really good communications, a special expertise or experience, a personality, experience with a certain type of client.. really anything.. But, there must be some thing that makes your company 'special' otherwise you will be lost in the mix. Don't worry about things like rates, or the fact that you have 'great' developers. Those are generic. Think about why a client would really choose you, and try to build on that! After you understand your company identity, it gets much easier to identify and engage marketing channels because you understand your target.Dave HeckerDH
-
Does anyone know of a good SaaS financial projection template for excel/apple numbers?
Here is a link to a basic model - http://monetizepros.com/tools/template-library/subscription-revenue-model-spreadsheet/ Depending on the purpose of the model you could get much much more elaborate or simpler. This base model will help you to understand size of the prize. But if you want to develop an end to end profitability model (Revenue, Gross Margin, Selling & General Administrative Costs, Taxes) I would suggest working with financial analyst. You biggest drivers (inputs) on a SaaS model will be CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost, Average Selling Price / Monthly Plan Cost, Customer Churn(How many people cancel their plans month to month), & Cost to serve If you can nail down them with solid backup data on your assumption that will make thing a lot simpler. Let me know if you need any help. I spent 7 years at a Fortune 100 company as a Sr. Financial Analyst.Brandon DolsBD
-
What is the best way to sell to dentists?
Get specific with the "who" of your market (i.e. what kind of dentist? what is their specialty? whom do they serve? demographics and psychographics of both the dentist AND their patients?) And specific with your offer to them. What are you selling? What are they buying? And why do they want it (according to THEM... not you)? Get those factors right and they'll buy from you all day long.David BermanDB
-
What do (bootstrapped) startups offer to new sales hires? Commission only? What are some good examples to keep people motivated and still survive?
Generally bootstrapped startups should avoid salespeople, for a few reasons: a. they typically can't afford the base and overall comp required to attract sales people who can actually sell / or afford to support them with marketing, management, etc b. it will be very difficult to find the rare person with the right mix of sales and startup DNA along with the critical domain knowledge, consequently the startup is likely to settle c. the founders need to be very involved in the selling and customers will demand it That said, if the plan is still to hire a salesperson, find someone who has demonstrated sales success in startups and is excited by the early stage in company building. Create a comp plan heavily leveraged on sales results (unless you are in an industry where 100% commission is a common practice, would recommend against $0 base as this creates the false impression that your hire isn't passing time with one company while looking for another job with a richer comp plan - you want your rep focussed). Sell the vision and opportunity to be part of a growth story. I have written a several blog posts on hiring sales people into start-ups. You might find these useful: http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/ceo-question-should-i-learn-to-sell-or-hire-a-sales-person/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/start-up-sales-and-hiring-advice-dont-stop-selling-once-you-hire-your-first-sales-rep/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/hiring-start-up-sales-reps/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/startups-and-salespeople/ Good luck!Eliot BurdettEB
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.
